To amend title 38, United States Code, to exclude the proceeds of life insurance from consideration as income for purposes of determining veterans' pension benefits, and for other purposes.

Excludes the lump-sum proceeds of any life insurance policy on a veteran from consideration as income for purposes of determining veterans' pensions.

Removes the requirement that application for a death pension must be made within 45 days from the date of a veteran's death (thereby making the effective date of its award the same as that for death compensation and dependency compensation (i.e., the first day of the month in which the death occurred)).